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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 25, 2015C I T Y O F (ANDOVE © 1685 CROSSTOWN BOULEVARD N.W. • ANDOVER, MINNESOTA 55304 • (763) 755 -5100 FAX (763) 755 -8923 • WWW.CLANDOVER.MN.US Regular Park & Recreation Commission Meeting June 25, 2015 7:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order 2. Resident Forum 3. Approval of Minutes (5121/15) — Regular Meeting 4. Approval of Minutes (6/4/15) — Regular Meeting 5. Consider Protective Netting Quote at Andover Station North Ball Field Facility, Cont. /15 -34 6. Consider Final 2016 -2020 Park CIP 7. Review Draft Spreadsheet for the 10 Year Parks Replacement Plan 8. Discuss Questionnaire /City Campus Expansion Master Plan/15 -22 9. Outstanding Items /Maintenance Update 10. 11. Chairs Report 12. Adjournment X (ANDOVEEn PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING — JUNE 25, 2015 MINUTES The Regular Bi- Monthly Meeting of the Andover Park and Recreation Commission was called to order by Chair Stenzel on June 25, 2015, 7:00 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota. Commissioners Present: Chair Shane Stenzel, Vice Chair Jim Lindahl, Commissioners Ted Butler, Sarah Elstrom, and Mark Miskowiec Commissioners Absent: Alisa Lewnau, Angela Marinello Also Present: Assistant Public Works Director, Todd Haas 0 RESIDENT FORUM No one appeared to address the Commission. APPROVAL OF MINUTES May 21, 2015 Minutes Motion by Lindahl, seconded by Elstrom, to approve the May 21, 2015 Park Commission minutes as presented. Motion carried on a 5 -ayes, 0 -nays, 2- absent (Lewnau, Marinello) vote. June 4, 2015 Minutes Motion by Lindahl, seconded by Miskowiec, to approve the June 4, 2015 Park Commission minutes as presented. Motion carried on a 4 -ayes, 0 -nays, 1- present (Butler), 2- absent (Lewnau, Marinello) vote. Regular Andover Park & Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes — June 25, 2015 Page 2 © CONSIDER PROTECTIVE NETTING QUOTE AT ANDOVER STATION NORTH BALL FIELD FACILITY, CONT. 15 -34 Mr. Haas explained that the Park Commission has been talking about this and the concern raised by the Association is that the foul balls coming behind home plate, both for the middle field and west field. Staff has been able to work with a fence contractor to get an estimate and if the project moves forward they will need to get a quote from another supplier as well. The estimate for this is just over $16,000. Staff has forwarded the information to the Andover Baseball Association but he has not heard back from the President and they have not been able to meet as a board yet so he suggested this item be tabled until the July 16`h meeting. Chairperson Stenzel asked if the netting will go over the top of the fencing and how tall is it. Mr. Haas indicated the netting will go straight off the angle and ties in with the existing building. Two additional posts will have to be installed to ensure it covers the area being raised by the Association. Commissioner Butler indicated he liked the design of this and will protect the spectators. Chairperson Stenzel concurred. Motion by Butler, seconded by Lindahl, to recommend tabling this item. Motion carried on a 5 -ayes, 0 -nays, 2- absent (Lewnau, Marinello) vote. CONSIDER FINAL 2016 — 2020 PARK CIP Mr. Haas explained that this item is in regard to the final consideration of the 2016 -2020 Park CIP plan. Ms. Carrie Hemp, 18041 Vail Street, and Ms. Molly Roundhoarst, 17911 Vail Street NW, requested playground equipment be installed in their neighborhood park, Forest Meadows Park located at 1010 -179`h Avenue NW. Ms. Hemp indicated they did have a play structure approximately ten years ago which was removed because most of children had grown up and now the neighborhood is changing over and they have a lot of younger children in the neighborhood. She indicated they went around and got a petition signed from the neighbors and everyone is in favor of the play structures being installed. Commissioner Lindahl asked how many small children were in the neighborhood. Ms. Hemp stated they have four in their family and there were many families that have multiple children and grandchildren that are being cared for. Ms. Brenda Schmeichel, 14428 Flintwood Street NW and Ms. Lori Reardon, 14449 Flintwood Street NW, both are residents in the Hickory Meadows development area, approached the Park Commission about continued development of the Hickory Meadows Park. Ms. Schmeichel stated she talked to Mr. Haas and were told their neighborhood Regular Andover Park & Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes — June 25, 2015 Page 3 © park was not on the improvement plan for the next five years. She stated she was surprised to hear that so she got a petition from most everyone in the neighborhood to signed the petition for additional park improvements. She indicated they were part of the neighborhood that got this park going and built a few years ago. She indicated they already contributed $2,529.10 to the Hickory Meadows Park as part of Phase 1. She stated another concern for them is safety issues because of increased traffic. She stated new construction will go straight through to Prairie Road and the way the park is positioned you cannot see the park from the street. She thought if the expansion to the park was done it might help people to see the park and help with safety. Commissioner Butler reviewed the history of the park with the Commission. Chairperson Stenzel thanked the residents for coming to the meeting. He stated unfortunately they cannot include every park in their CIP plans. They have talked a lot about the parks over the last six months and priorities and they do not have a lot of funds to play with and have many parks in the system that are undeveloped, unfinished and they rely a lot on their park dedication fee to help pay for improvements. Chairperson Stenzel stated they have recognized they need to accommodate playgrounds and also sports facilities. They did a complete inventory in April of every park and the have figured out they do not have the funds to do everything at once, which is something they continually struggle with. The items that have been identified in their CIP include Fox Meadows Park reconstruction and irrigation so that the park can become more useable. Currently they do have a replacement plan and funding for playgrounds equipment. Mr. Haas thought Purple Park behind City Hall was next on the list in 2016 as an improvement but with the City Campus Master Plan being prepared that may change the timeline as to when the playground equipment will need be replaced. Chairperson Stenzel stated it comes down to the City Council, who hold the purse strings, and decides what gets done in the parks and where the funds are distributed to and coming from. He understood their concerns and wished they could do the parks that everyone wanted improved. Commissioner Miskowiec noted there is a concern of the Board that the parks the residents want have virtually no equipment and they try to accommodate what they can. He stated those parks are on the Park Commission scope. Chairperson Stenzel reviewed the proposed 2016 -2020 CIP Park Improvements that is been recommended. Commissioner Butler stated the bigger budget items are larger parks that will benefit the entire City with multiple types of playing fields within them. The hockey rink paving will serve many purposes such as pickle ball courts and roller blade rink also. X Regular Andover Park & Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes — June 25, 2015 Page 4 © Ms. Hemp stated she understood the big thing is recreation and sports but the City has to realize that not all children can play or want to play organized sport. She noted she has one child who cannot participate in sports because of medical issues and thought the City needed to think about them also. Mr. Haas stated he will talk to the Park Maintenance Supervisor for playground replacement equipment to see where they are at and if anything can be done. Commissioner Lindahl appreciated the residents for coming in because the Parks Commission is not aware of all of the issues out there. Motion by Elstrom, seconded by Miskowiec, to recommend to the City Council the final 2016 — 2020 Capital Improvement Plan. Motion carried on a 5 -ayes, 0 -nays, 2- absent (Lewnau, Marinello) vote. REVIEW DRAFT SPREADSHEET FOR THE IO -YEAR PARKS REPLACEMENT PLAN Mr. Haas explained that this item is in regard to the draft spreadsheet for the 10 -year parks replacement plan and asked the Commission to look at the format and let staff know what changes they would like to see done. © Chairperson Stenzel stated what he has noticed is this is a ten -year replacement plan and everything he has seen on the list is slated for replacement within the next four years. Mr. Haas stated that is where the Parks Commission will need to sit down with Council and indicate to them the needs and the funds that should be set aside for replacement. Commissioner Butler stated this was called a 5 -year replacement plan when they met with the Council and he wondered changed. Mr. Haas stated the Finance Department would be appropriate to have a 10 -year plan to know where they stand. Commissioner Butler stated there had to be things out there that need to be added in for the next 10 years. Mr. Haas stated that was a good question and would need to discuss with the Finance representatives when he meets with them next week. Commissioner Butler stated unless they are going to plan for 10 years out he thought they should call this a 5 -year replacement plan. He stated he would oppose diverting Capital Improvement Funds to pay for the replacement costs. He thought that was a bad budgeting decision because Capital Improvement Funds are set based on the Comprehensive Plan work they do with their park program and a calculation they have done in order to build out the assets that they think they need in the long term. If they are going to start raiding that fund to replace existing assets then something needs to give. Mr. Haas indicated if the Council agrees with what they are leaning towards, they will © have to redo the Park Dedication Study to reflect the new park dedication fee based on Regular Andover Park & Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes —June 25, 2015 Page 5 those improvements. He indicated he will bring that up and will know more after the next meeting. Commissioner Miskowiec asked on the Crooked Lake School hockey rink, he thought the warming house was the School Districts. Mr. Haas indicated it was but for the most part the City uses it for a warming house. Commissioner Miskowiec wondered if they would be doing a cost sharing with the District for this. Mr. Haas stated they have not met with them but want to meet with them before this winter to try to make some repairs and they are willing to meet but it has not been done yet. Commissioner Lindahl concurred with that because if they lose their dedication fees the Park Commission might as well end. Chairperson Stenzel stated even the fees were raised, they will still be behind. Commissioner Butler agreed and he wondered if the discussion point of taking away the $61,000 that currently is contributed into Park Capital Improvements Fund for new projects and did not think the residents would support that and he thought that it would be a serious mistake on the City's part to take that out of the Park Capital Improvement Fund and then shift the entire burden of the rest of the build out of the system on new developments when many of those improvements will actually benefit the entire City. ® Mr. Haas stated depending on how fast they move this item along, the Commission will need to have another joint meeting with the City Council and they can bring up their issues and concerns then. Mr. Haas stated he would discuss at his next meeting to change this back to a five -year plan and that the Park Commission does not want to use the Park Dedication Funds for items that need to be replaced. The Commission concurred. DISCUSS QUESTIONNAIRE / CITY CAMPUS EXPANSION MASTER PLAN /15 -22 Mr. Haas explained that this item is in regard to City Campus Expansion Master Plan. Mr. Haas reviewed the Master Plan expansion with the Commission. Commissioner Lindahl asked if soccer fields would be added as part of the vision of the City in order to support a tournament. Mr. Haas stated right now it is open for anything the Commission is wanting for there. It is open for discussion. There is still talk about providing an underpass at the intersection for safe crossing back and forth between the City Campus. Commissioner Butler thought there may be some interest in adding a third rink because © they are holding some big events there. They have to do something about the parking because it is inadequate and also they need water service to the building. The site to the Regular Andover Park & Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes — June 25, 2015 Page 6 © north could be used for the expansion of a third rink, parking and maybe add some ball fields in that area. He could see the ball field to the north could be removed and add parking there and add ball fields towards Nightingale Street. Ideally he would like to see three or four fields added there. Mr. Haas stated the free skating rink should be expanded. There was quick discussion of where the free skating rink and a third hockey rink could be placed in the master plan. Commissioner Miskowiec asked which way the campus was going to expand. Mr. Haas stated a plan will be put together once all of the stakeholders are heard from. He indicated there would be another entrance coming from Nightingale Street to alleviate all of the congestion on Crosstown Boulevard. Commissioner Lindahl stated he was not sure they would need any more baseball fields in the City but as lacrosse grows they are going to be hurting for fields for that sport. He thought they could add some soccer, lacrosse and football fields to the campus as well. Chairperson Stenzel disagreed and stated they just passed the CIP with two parks that will have those types of fields. He thought they had a good inventory of a lot of soccer fields. There was a short discussion regarding available baseball fields for youth in the City. Chairperson Stenzel stated he did not hear from soccer and lacrosse about needing more fields, he understood they had enough. He thought there could be a couple of small baseball fields. He would like to see a wading pool there in conjunction with the YMCA, an outside water feature would be nice. He thought sewer and water to the warming house is essential because it could be used for other things besides a warming house. He stated he would like to see a very large playground in the City, something unique with some nature or interpretive elements to it. He would also like to see some green space for people to gather for programed events, maybe with a small band shelter. He would also like to see additional parking with easy access to it. He would also like to see a sliding hill as a winter month activity. Commissioner Elstrom would also like to see a water feature and would like to see this be a showcase area for hockey and would like to see a larger park area as well. REVIEW OUTSTANDING ITEMS /MAINTENANCE UPDATE Mr. Haas reviewed outstanding items with the Commission. U x Regular Andover Park & Recreation Commission Meeting Minutes — June 25, 2015 Page 7 CHAIR'S REPORT Chair Stenzel stated when they were looking at all of the parks he thought it would be nice to have direction signs to them and wondered why they cannot have some. He stated he was in Blaine and they had directional signs so he did not know why Andover could not have any. Mr. Haas stated he would talk to the County Highway Department about that. He thought the County might be more open to signs directing people to regional parks but he was not sure if they would allow them for smaller neighborhood parks. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Butler, seconded by Lindahl, to adjourn the meeting at 8:05 p.m. Motion carried on a 5 -ayes, 0 -nays, 2- absent (Lewnau, Marinello) vote. Respectfully Submitted, Sue Osbeck, Recording Secretary © TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. H